The present application relates generally to power generation systems and, more particularly, to systems and apparatus for use in harvesting energy.
At least some known monitoring systems include at least one sensor that detects and/or measures the operating conditions of a machine. Generally, known sensors are powered by an external power supply and/or by an internal battery. To conserve power, the sensors may be deactivated when measurements are not needed, such as when the machine is not operating. When measurements are desired, the sensors may be activated to record measurements from the machine. Once the sensors have completed recording the measurements, the sensors are typically deactivated again to conserve power. However, because of a desire to conserve power, the sensors may record or measure operating characteristics of the machine at infrequent intervals. One problem that may occur with using such practices is that the sensors may not generate a robust measurement dataset for the machine.
To provide additional power for the monitoring system, at least some known monitoring systems harvest energy from a monitored machine. For example, known piezoelectric devices may be used to harvest energy from vibrations generated by the machine. The harvested energy is often stored in a battery for use in powering sensors or other devices within the monitoring system. However, the use of additional harvesting devices within the monitoring system may increase the cost and/or complexity of the monitoring system to a level that the benefits gained from such monitoring systems is offset or outweighed.